ABNB vs EXPE: How Airbnb and Expedia Group Compare (2026)
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
ABNB is the larger of the two ($88.21B market cap): the incumbent the market prices for continued execution (24.49x forward earnings, beta 1.14). EXPE is the smaller challenger ($32.51B), cheaper on forward earnings (11.72x): more room to run, but more to prove. The real question is which set of drivers you believe, and whether owning one (or both) leaves you over-concentrated.
ABNB vs EXPE: the tie-breaker metrics
Same yardstick, side by side (as of July 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.
| Metric | ABNB | EXPE | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $88.21B | $32.51B | Size. The larger name is the incumbent; the smaller has more room to grow and more to prove. |
| Forward P/E | 24.49 | 11.72 | Valuation on next year's expected earnings, the same yardstick for both. Lower is cheaper for that growth; higher means the market is paying up. |
| Trailing P/E | 36.61 | 23.92 | Valuation on the last 12 months. A big drop from trailing to forward means the market expects earnings to jump, so more growth is already in the price. |
| Beta | 1.14 | 1.23 | Volatility vs the market. Above 1 swings harder than the index; below 1 is steadier. Higher beta means bigger drawdowns to hold through. |
| Price vs 52-week range | 96% of range | 75% of range | Where today's price sits between the 52-week low and high. Near the high is momentum with less margin of safety; near the low is out of favor or a discount, depending on why. |
| Price / book | 11.58 | 56.42 | How much you pay over book value. Very high can signal an asset-light, high-return business or a rich price. |
Reading it: EXPE is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.
Before you buy: how ABNB and EXPE affect your concentration
The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. ABNB and EXPE share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.
This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined ABNB and EXPE exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
What does Airbnb (ABNB) do?
Airbnb operates the world's largest two-sided marketplace for short-term and vacation rentals, connecting millions of hosts with guests across roughly 100,000 cities. The company makes money by taking a cut of each booking (service fees on both the guest and host side) rather than owning any real estate, which gives it an asset-light model with very high incremental margins. In 2026 Airbnb has been actively expanding beyond its core stays business into Experiences (tours, activities, dining) and Services (things like airport transfers, luggage storage, and pilots for car and equipment rentals), aiming to turn a single-purpose lodging app into a broader travel platform that competes more directly with traditional online travel agencies.
What does Expedia Group (EXPE) do?
Expedia Group (NASDAQ: EXPE), headquartered in Seattle, is one of the world's largest online travel companies, connecting travelers with accommodations, flights, rental cars, cruises, and activities. Its consumer (B2C) business runs a portfolio of brands including Brand Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo (whole-home and vacation rentals), Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotwire, ebookers, and Wotif, while its B2B segment supplies travel inventory and technology to airlines, banks, loyalty programs, and other travel sellers on a white-label and API basis. The company also owns the trivago metasearch business. Expedia earns revenue primarily through merchant and agency booking margins, advertising, and B2B distribution fees, and reported roughly 3.6 million lodging properties across its platforms, including about 2.4 million alternative-accommodation listings through Vrbo.
ABNB vs EXPE: how do they differ?
Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.
- ABNB drivers: Core stays keep compounding; Experiences and Services as a second engine.
- EXPE drivers: B2B travel-supply growth; Brand simplification and One Key loyalty.
Which fits which kind of investor
A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Regulation is the most persistent overhang: cities including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and various European markets have restricted or banned short-term rentals, and an EU short-term-rental rule takes effect in 2026, all of which can constrain supply in dense urban markets. For EXPE, expedia's revenue is almost entirely dependent on travel volumes, so a global recession, geopolitical disruption, or renewed travel restrictions would hit gross bookings quickly.
ABNB or EXPE: which should you pick?
Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick ABNB if you believe its drivers more; EXPE if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the ABNB and EXPE guides.
ABNB vs EXPE: the full fundamentals
ABNB. Airbnb's Q1 2026 revenue rose about 18% to roughly $2.68 billion, with gross booking value up 19% to about $29.2 billion and adjusted EBITDA up 24%. The trailing multiples sit above the broad market, reflecting the company's high margins, net-cash balance sheet, and consistent free cash flow generation. The forward multiple is lower than the trailing one because analysts expect continued earnings growth into the coming year.
EXPE. Expedia converts a very large gross-bookings base (~$119.6 billion in 2025) into roughly $14.7 billion of revenue, reflecting the take-rate economics of an online travel intermediary. Growth in the high single digits trails Booking Holdings, but profitability has been improving as the technology replatforming rolls off and B2B scales. Trailing valuation multiples move with travel sentiment and quarterly bookings, so investors typically weigh the single-digit top-line growth against the faster earnings-per-share growth that buybacks and margin expansion can produce.
Headline figures (approximate, JULY 2026): ABNB shows revenue (ttm) ~$12.6B, net income (ttm) ~$2.5B, market cap ~$88B, trailing p/e ~35x; EXPE shows revenue (fy2025) ~$14.7 billion (up ~8% year over year), revenue (ttm, as of q1 2026) ~$15.2 billion, gross bookings (fy2025) ~$119.6 billion (up ~8% year over year), net income (fy2025) ~$1.3 billion.
The bottom line: ABNB vs EXPE
ABNB and EXPE are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined ABNB and EXPE exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.
Build a basket around ABNB with Walnut
Use Airbnb as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
What is the difference between ABNB and EXPE?
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Airbnb operates the world's largest two-sided marketplace for short-term and vacation rentals, connecting millions of hosts with guests across roughly 100,000 cities. Expedia Group (NASDAQ: EXPE), headquartered in Seattle, is one of the world's largest online travel companies, connecting travelers with accommodations, flights, rental cars, cruises, and activities. They show up together because they share investment themes, but they are different businesses, so the better fit depends on which thesis you are expressing.
Is ABNB or EXPE the better stock?
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Neither is universally better. ABNB is the larger incumbent; EXPE is the smaller challenger and looks cheaper on forward earnings. Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Compare what each does, the tie-breaker metrics above, and the risks, then decide which fits your thesis and what you already own.
Which is cheaper, ABNB or EXPE?
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On forward P/E (as of July 2026), ABNB trades at 24.49x and EXPE at 11.72x, so EXPE is the cheaper of the two on next year's expected earnings. A lower multiple is not automatically the better buy: a richer valuation can be justified by faster growth, and a lower one can reflect real risk. Weigh the multiple against how fast each business is compounding.
Should you own both ABNB and EXPE?
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Because they share themes, owning both concentrates you in that theme. That can be intentional (a focused bet) or accidental (less diversification than it looks). Walnut can show your combined exposure across both, and whether adding either over-concentrates you, before you buy.
What are the risks of ABNB vs EXPE?
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ABNB: Regulation is the most persistent overhang: cities including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and various European markets have restricted or banned short-term rentals, and an EU short-term-rental rule takes effect in 2026, all of which can constrain supply in dense urban markets. Competition is intensifying as Airbnb pushes into travel-agency territory occupied by Booking and Expedia, while hotel groups like Hilton and Marriott move into apartment-style stays. The business is also cyclical and sensitive to consumer discretionary spending, so a travel slowdown or recession would pressure bookings. The premium valuation, around 35x trailing earnings, leaves little room for error if growth decelerates or the Experiences and Services bets take longer than hoped to scale. Finally, growth in some mature markets has slowed after the post-pandemic travel surge, raising the question of how much runway remains in the core stays business. EXPE: Expedia's revenue is almost entirely dependent on travel volumes, so a global recession, geopolitical disruption, or renewed travel restrictions would hit gross bookings quickly. It competes against a larger and faster-growing Booking Holdings, which has generally led on room-night growth and margin, and against Airbnb in the alternative-accommodation category where brand loyalty is strong. A major structural threat is that AI-native travel assistants and Google's travel tools could answer and book trips without sending travelers to Expedia's sites, raising customer acquisition costs or disintermediating the platform entirely. The company also carries meaningful exposure to marketing spend on Google, foreign-currency swings, and execution risk from its ongoing technology and loyalty transitions.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. This page is descriptive and not a recommendation to buy or sell ABNB or EXPE; figures are approximate and dated (as of July 2026). Verify current data before investing.